Things that Are The Same

One of the things we constantly talk about is which things are just the same here, and which things are just so incredibly different. So many things are different that I wanted to do a post about what types of things are the same here in our daily life.

I was pointing out the other day that we end up doing a lot of the same things with our time. The last couple of weekends, instead of going away on an adventure to see some ruins or fort, we went drinking with our friends.

Two weekends ago we chartered a bus with about 12 friends and drove about 5 hours up north into the country to this great little wine region. In the last 5-10 years these two big wineries have gotten started in an area that is known for its grapes, and they are both open for tasting and tours.

The drive out was great, we got to see a lot of the country side in the area around us. Since the rains had already started, everything was really green, a lot like San Diego in those few weeks of spring where we actually get rain.

Even though this is the post about "The Same", one of the best different things that happened was when we made a quick stop for drinks and snacks. Andy and I went off with a couple of the guys to grab a drink, and when we walked back up to the bus, there was a huge crowd surrounding it. I was like "Oh boy, what happened now", and we had to push through everyone to get back onto the bus. The driver was annoyed, and our local friend kept telling us to leave. Turns out the entire scene was because people in that town don't often see foreigners, and were all just very curious about a bus full of white people. They all tried to shake everyone's hands through the window as we left.

Another great moment was when we made a quick stop at a temple by a small lake. It was full of people, lots of families, and boys swimming in the lake. The best part though was that there was a girl driving around on what looked like an old wave runner. Except, the girl wasnt actually driving, she had just paid for some guy to sit int he back and let her act like she was steering herself around the lake. It was awesome.


We went to lunch at the first winery, and it was a great Italian place, with the first pasta I had had since being here. Andy got pizza, of course. We took the tour, then tasted their wines, which were all nice, and on the lighter side. At the second winery, we went straight to the huge open-air tasting room, starting tasting by the bottle, and basically sat and drank with our friends all afternoon.

The driver had to herd everyone back to bus for the 5 hour drive, and that's where the wine started to really kick in. Especially since the driver wouldnt let us stop for dinner! The first three hours were all party-bus, the last three were basically everyone being completely passed out! Unfortunately it took so long to get home that some people (who will remain nameless, but not me) started to wake up and get hung over long before we made it back home.


This past weekend we started out on Sunday morning with a great brunch with friends at a little cafe. After brunch, we made a quick detour to a local temple, and then drove out into the suburbs to this new brew-pub. Most of the people we went with are German, and they were skeptical about the beer, but ended up very impressed. I liked the weiss beer a lot, but was a little disapointed, because the mango beer my friend had told me about wasnt ready yet.

The brewery was on the grounds of a big resort/apartment complex, and had large grounds, with a pool, tennis court, and was so nice and peaceful. Its great to get just a little outside the city sometimes, its always so busy here.

We spent about 5 hours drinking with our friends, and then took rickshaws back to the city, where we had a late dinner at a friends place, and then went home.